Count Your Blessings
by CiZiwejes
Summary: A fic requested by Emerald-Water. Sam was hexed and was out for a little spin. It's left to Dean to bring him back from where he was, but does Sam really want to be brought back?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The boys are still not mine no matter how often they appeared in my dreams.  
A/N: This is a story requested by Emerald-Water who wanted to see Sam with little Dean and baby Sammy. Hopefully I met your expectation girl.

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**COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS**

**Chapter 1 **-Sam:You're so getting your payback Dean.

"_Why Sam?" _her soft voice drifted into his dreams.

"Jess…"

"_Why Sam?"_

"Jess!"

"_Why?"_

"JESS!" Sam screamed as the blue fire engulfed him completely.

"SAM!" Dean's booming voice jolted Sam awake from his restless slumber. He looked around and realized he was nowhere near the burning apartment. No fire, no bed, no Jessica. _No Jessica_. However, there beside him was his brother – pressing a hand on his chest, keeping him grounded.

Sam shook his head, chasing away the remnants of his nightmare and shoved Dean's hand aside – straightening himself against the seat. He gazed outside the Impala's window. They were still outside the witch's house, on lookout for their latest hunt. Sam remembered the golden rays of the setting sun hitting their window when they first got there but what he saw outside now was darkness everywhere – murky, damp and stiff.

"Why did you let me fall asleep?" Sam shot his big brother an accusing glare.

"Because I'm a great big brother." Dean glimpsed at him momentarily and furrowed his brows before he turned his wary eyes to the house again.

"What time is it?" Sam asked, not bothering to check his own watch.

"Almost 10," Dean answered. He'd always answered Sam's inquiry, no matter how stupid it might sound.

Sighing tiredly, Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and leant his head on the cushion**.** "You shouldn't have let me sleep."

"Well…sorry for trying to help," Dean rolled his eyes. _Little_ _brothers_! "I just thought you needed the beauty sleep, you know to keep yourself beautiful?" he raised one brow and patted Sam's thigh – a stupid grin plastered on his face.

"Not funny Dean." Sam sent him a death glare.

"Aww…come on." Dean shrugged. "Why so grumpy? You have to admit…it was a little funny."

"Shut up Dean." Sam grunted, not interested to continue their banter.

Aware of the stress in Sam's voice, Dean's protective big brother mode kicked in. He ran his eyes over Sam's slumped features and shook his head. "You know Sam…this nightmare, not sleeping thing, Jess…you have to deal with it," he tried to sound gentle**, **not too harsh.

"I'm dealing."

Dean snorted "Yeah? This is what you call dealing?" and gestured at Sam's slumped features.

His insomniac brother had lost so much weight over the last couple of months. "The way I see it…you're not showing much improvement."

"Tell me Dean…what you want me to do?" Sam snapped back, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

The bitterness in Sam's tone didn't discourage Dean from giving his brother a piece of his mind. "For starters…you should try to forgive yourself." He didn't try to match with Sam's tone though. His brother was suffering andhe couldn't just simply let it continue.

"I…" the urge to tell his brother everything suddenly faded as Sam hesitated, "forget it Dean…you won't understand." The only person who would understand his loss was missing and they'd been looking for himwith no avail. Dad had lost mom the same way he'd lost Jess – _yes, dad would understand the pain._

Dean rolled his eyes but honestly that was what he'd been expected to hear. "Then tell me! Help me understand!" Dean fixed his eyes on Sam's and sighed when Sam avoided looking at him.

"Not now Dean," Sam said turning away from Dean toglance out of the window into the impending darkness – finding his peace in nothingness.

The response was not what he'd been hoping for. "Seriously dude! You're killing yourself!" Dean couldn't stay patient forever. He had his own limit, and it did nothing to reassure his nerves watching Sam in so much pain.

"Mind your own business, Dean" Sam huffed. He didn't mean to hurt anybody but Sam was so tired. Hell! He was tired of everything.

That was it! Dean had had enough. He had enough of Sam's screaming Jess's name in his sleep. It hurt him to see his brother writhing, tossing and turning in his bed when he finally fell asleep after hours of fighting to stay awake. "I would if you could do a better job watching after yourself! I think you don't give a damn what this does to you."

"You know what Dean…you're right," Sam glared at Dean. "I don't give a damn about anything! I don't give a damn about this hunt… this job…I just want to find dad, find Jess's killer and get this over with!" Something inside him erupted. He had contained the pain for so long and suddenly it flowed out of him like a tidal wave. The worst of it was he knew he was lashing outat the wrong person but Sam couldn't stop himself. He needed the outburst and Dean was the best option – the only option he had – as his subject of rage.

"Hey! Easy there tiger!" Dean was shocked. "So this is what it's all about? Revenge? Man, I'm telling you…you're not going anywhere with it."

Sam shook his head, angry and discontent. "Dean! I'm sick of you telling me everything!" he opened the door and stormed out of the car. Dean came out soon after that, the hunt was already a forgotten subject. Sam continued to rant, "and I'm sick of listening to you…you told me that we would find dad…you told me that dad wanted us to pick up where he left off, that we should save people, hunt things…that it's all family's business…I listened to you and look where it broughtme**!**?"

"Nowhere!" Sam yelled.

"Now what? You're putting all the blame on me?"

"No Dean! It just that…you won't understand! You won't feel it the way I do." Sam buried his face in his palms, brushing the tears before they were shed. "You never lost anyone the way I did…or the way dad did." If only he'd been looking at Dean then Sam would have seen how his brother's face falls as soon as he'd spoken those bitter words. If only Sam hadn't been too engrossed in his own sadness then he would have heard Dean's breath catch in his didn't realize how much his words pierced through Dean's heart, hurting his brother so deeply.

"Yeah Sammy…I don't understand." Dean shrugged as he leaned against the car withhis back to Sam. "I don't understand how you and dad felt seeing the way mom and Jess died…but I do understand the pain of losing the woman you loved most in your life…losing mom, it was painful, God! It still is…"

Sam looked up and studied his brother's back. The way Dean's shoulders were slumped forward told him enough; his brother was trying real hard to conceal the pain he was feeling. Guilt started to envelop Sam, punishing him for the words he had spoken without thinking. "Dean…" he knew he had to apologize, but he didn't know where to start.

"What I do understand is how much it hurts to lose someone you love so much but when they are still alive it's...losing mom was bad, but now losing you and dad is worse."

'_God! Oh God! Dean!'_ How could he hurt the only person who never had left him – the only person that would always be there for him no matter what so bad? Not only he'd left Jessica to die now he hurt Dean too? "Dean…I'm…" His apology was interrupted with Dean yelling at him, screaming out his name like there was no tomorrow.

"Sammy!"

_At least that was what Sam thought Dean did - screaming out for him – because he didn't really hear what his brother was saying. _

Sam heard Dean's screams fade away as his senses went out, numbed by the white hot searing pain creeping up his back. The only sound that he heard was a soft whispering in his ears, saying…

"You are doomed to a restless sleep…where thou shall live but will not wake…where thou shall feel but will not touch…thou shall speak but will not tell…and thou shall watch but will not act."

And then the pain subsided. Sam saw Dean running for him – his face was ashen white, frantic and scared – and that was about the last thing he saw before his knees buckled under him. Then everything turned eerily dark.

'_Am I dead?'_

…..

Sam woke up on a bright sunny day. The ray pierced his eyes and it hurt like hell. Squinting hard, he shielded his eyes from the offending light with his hand. He looked around and realized he was lying on a bench, Dean was nowhere in sight.

"Dean…?" he called with raspy voice. What happened? Everything around him was strange yet it seemed so familiar. There was a nagging feeling in his stomach telling him that he was nowhere around the witch's house. And he was alone, that was pretty obvious because if Dean was somewhere around him, his big brother would have started invading his personal space already.

_Okay, this is weird, _he thought. He yelled, "Dean this is _not_ funny!"Getting no response, Sam was panicking. Something was definitely wrong. Where the hell was Dean?

"Dean! Come out!" he balked as he jackknifed into a sitting position. His head spun, but at least the vertigo helped clear his mind. He looked around frantically. Still no Dean. But he was aware now that he was lying on a bench, right in front of a diner.

Sam stood up, wobbled a little, and walked across the road – heading towards the diner. Why he ended up sleeping on the bench by a roadside was still a blur but he hoped it was just another one of Dean's stupid pranks. He hoped that somehow he'd find Dean sitting in one of the booths, eating his pie, drinking his coffee, reading the morning news, laughing his heart out as Sam walked into the diner, confused.

But everything Sam had in his mind vanished as he stepped into the diner. He was confused all right but Dean was not there. Nu'uh? Really? No Dean. Sam's headache increased tenfold.

"You okay son?" the diner's keeper asked over the counter, worried to see how Sam staggered, barely able to stand up straight. His guess, a young man wasted from last night's blast.

Sam flopped down on one of the chairs near the counter and hung his head low. Something happened to Dean and God, he didn't have the slightest idea what mess they'd been into. The last thing he remembered was Dean running to him, yelling his name and there was this white hot pain searing up his spine. Then his mind just went numb. Though he tried hard to remember what happened after that, nothing would come to his head. Nada!

"This might clear up your head a bit," the store-keeper offered him a cup of coffee, fresh brewed. Sam looked up and smiled dryly. "It's on me," the middle-aged man returned him a fatherly smile.

"Thanks," Sam rasped and stared at the cup. Dean was not there. He was alone. Did Dean leave him? No, Dean would never leave. In fact Sam was the one who left. Dad left. But Dean never would. Again, he looked up to the keeper, finding the balding man smiling at him warmly.

"Rough night**, **huh?"

Sam tried to smile but he didn't have the energy to even stay awake. "Sir, would you by chance have seen a 67 Impala anywhere in the town?" It couldnot hurt to ask. Sam would take any cluesnow. "It belongs to my big brother, he's…missing," Sam swallowed the last word.

The man's face fell. "Uh…I'm sorry about your brother, son."

Sam cringed at how the man was addressing him. It had been long since anyone called him son. Even his own father didn't call him son too often.

"But…the only 67 Impala I saw in this town belongs to the Winchester guy."

"Yes! That's my brother!" Sam beamed up – his heart filled with hope. So it was a prank after all. _Damn Dean! You're so getting a payback!_

"You said you're his brother?" the man seemed confused. "That's weird…I never knew that he had a brother."

"What?" Sam's heart skipped a beat. His hope had just flown right out the window.

"He has a family…two good boys and a wife, but he never mentioned having a younger brother," the man continued, not knowing how his words affected the young man sitting in frontof him.

_Dean has a family? _That was impossible. This man was not talking about Dean. He was either dreaming or the witch had put a big black mojo on him, making the world around him somewhat different. Either way, Dean having a wife and kids of his own was outrageous.

"Dean doesn't have a family," he whispered. Sam wasn't sure who to trust now.What if the world he'd been living with Dean was unreal? What if everything that he remembered was a figment of his imagination? What if there had never been a Sam Winchester?

"Dean?" the keeper's brows knitted. "I don't know any Dean who would fit as your big brother son…but I do know little Dean," he smiled._ Boy! This kid surely had a blast last night_. "He's a great kid…so in love with pies," he chortled with amusement.

Sam's blood ran cold. "Little Dean?" _Pies_?

"Yeah…John's boy," the man nodded to his new customer who had just entered the diner. "Speaking of the devil…"

Turning around, Sam's eyes went wide as he watched a dark haired man stepping into the diner, pushing a dark blond boy towards the nearest booth. "Morning Eric!" the man waved one hand towards Eric, the diner's keeper.

"Morning John!" Eric smiled and greeted the young boy who happily leapt onto one of the chairs nearest to Sam – ignoring his father disgruntled mumbling. "Hi Dean!"

"Hiya Eric!" the dark blond boy smiled brightly. "I want pie."

Eric chuckled. "We have a special today…blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream on top." He left the counter and went into the kitchen, retrieving the pie.

The boy clapped his hands and bounced happily on his chair, his father's wary hand hovering over his back. "Hear that daddy? Ice cream!"

"Yeah," the dark haired man smiled contentedly. "Just keep this between you and me…your mom will kill me if she knew I let you have ice cream for breakfast."

"Oki dokie!" the little boy gave his dad a thumb up.

All the while the father and son were having their little conversation, Sam watched with disbelieving eyes. He was looking at familiar faces. Those were the faces of his father John Winchester and his not-so-big brother Dean Winchester. Only they were younger, WAY younger.

Sam's vision started to blur, everything around him spun madly he had to hold his head in his hands to keep himself from falling down. He grabbed the newspaper and read the year, 1983! He looked through the glass window and saw the signboard of a shop across the road – Jack's and Sons Liquor Store, Lawrence, Kansas.

What the hell? How did he end up in Kansas and two decades back? There was nothing to logically explain what was happening around him. His heart beat frantically in his ribs and he was sweating all over despite the chilly air. Black dots were dancing ahead of him and his head throbbed like it was going to explode any minute now.

"Son…are you all right?" Eric asked him, one hand holding his shoulder, squeezing him gently. Sam looked up to him and saw two guys instead of one. He blinked hard and looked again. Eric had just multiplied to four. He cast a glance at the two Winchesters sitting beside him and saw their face went ashen white. The boy – Dean – looked so terrified for him he was practically reaching for Sam, unconsciously trying to hold him.

That was too much for him. This had to be a dream! Sam got up to his feet only to feel his knees buckle under him. The next thing he saw was the floor coming right towards his face – or the other way around – before he blacked out, again.

It was a dream and he was sure when he woke up, everything would be back to normal.

'_Dean, payback's going to be a bitch!'_

**TBC**

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a/n: Should I continue?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: They are never mine and never will be *sobs*  
a/n: Sorry about the mistakes. I am mere human…though I wish I am the Impala, LOL.

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**COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS**

**Chapter 2 – **Dean: Get up from the friggin' bed now Sammy!

Dean shot up to his feet when a nurse came out from the treatment room. He'd been waiting for what felt like forever outside the room it was getting to his nerve. His attempt to barge into the room half an hour ago had gained him a personal '_guard dog'_– the head nurse who looked like she could win over Dean in a wrestling match – who was sitting at the counter right before him. She was staring at Dean like a hawk but he couldn't care less.

Sam was being treated for almost an hour now and since then Dean hadn't gotten a word on his brother's condition. He was reaching the edge and he needed answers soon enough Dean was ready to pound on whoever came out from the treatment room first.

So when the nurse opened the door Dean was already on his feet. He almost knocked her down as he rushed towards her – eager for answers.

"The doctor will be out soon." The nurse explained without Dean even had the chance to open his mouth and then walked away, leaving Dean open-mouthed.

Dean slumped back to the plastic chair which made a loud creaking noise as he sat. The nurse's excuse told Dean it would take some time before the doctor came out. They had been to a lot of hospital visits they were accustomed to every lame excuses and alarming reminders. This one was another lame excuse to keep Dean away from any of the medical assistants – to tame his overwhelming anxiety so he wouldn't cause them any troubles.

Running a weary hand through his short spiky hair, Dean let out a heavy sigh. Why couldn't he see what was coming? They'd been watching the witch's house the whole day so why couldn't he see the witch closing in to them? Dean was at lost for words. They had never been this reckless. He had never been this reckless, well…maybe not so often, but would never let himself get off guard when Sammy was around.

He'd been too busy spilling his guts he didn't see the danger around them. He let off guard and exposed Sammy to terrible consequences. Oh yeah! Dad would be very proud of him now. "Take care of Sammy" that was Dad's drill on him and Dean had taken that as his sole duty but now Dean felt he had failed dad, failed Sammy.

If only he was not too engulfed in his sorrow and frustration then none of these would happen. Sam wouldn't get hexed, the witch would have been killed once and for all and Dean would have been saved by this overwhelming guilt.

Dean hugged himself as loneliness seeped into him. He felt he was losing something…again. His gut clenched into a tight knot and he had to hold hard the urge to puke though he could already taste the bile in his mouth. Looking down to his lap Dean had just realized he was holding his cell with a vice-like grip. His thumb was unconsciously stroking the speed dial for Dad.

Dad. He believed he should call dad and tell him about Sam but something at the back of his head told him it would be a fruitless effort. All the time he'd been explaining to Sam on Dad's absence Dean was asking the same questions too. Dean understood why dad did things he'd done. He really did but there were times Dean agreed with Sam that Dad had abandoned them. He shook his head to clear his mind from such thoughts and focused his head on Sam.

Sam - the little brother whom Dean couldn't live without was even harder to deal with. Sam had too many questions, too many demands and too much dissatisfaction with almost everything. Dean had been dealing with a super whiny Sam while dad preferred to be ignorant and an absent father. Most of the times Sam's anger went to the top notch he even challenged dad into endless quarrel and Dean would be the one who had to tear them away from one another.

Dean realized something though. No matter how much Sam and dad disagreed with each other or no matter how many times they had quarreled with one another Dean thought there was no pair that was as similar as his brother and father. Both of them were loud, selfish, hardheaded and annoying and they also loved each other so much. They fought and bitched at one another but always at the end of the day they would forgive and forget and everything would go back to normal.

Maybe he should call dad. Dean's thumb was stroking the key again and just as he was about to punch on the dial a doctor came out from the treatment room.

"Dean?" a voice calling him in desperation averted Dean's attention towards the hallway but not before he shot upright from his seat and scrammed towards the doctor. Bobby was hurrying towards him – his face ashen white. He reached them just in time before the doctor started reporting Sam's condition.

"We couldn't find anything wrong with him," the doctor sighed wearily. "There are no internal injuries and nothing harmful on the surface either but we couldn't seem to wake him up."

Dean and Bobby exchanged worried glances. Their next questions were written all over their face as they looked at the doctor for answers.

"He's in coma and there's no way to tell how long he's going to stay like that." The doctor reached out for Dean and squeezed his shoulder with a genuine gesture. "I'm sorry."

Dean couldn't hear whatever the doctor was saying to him because everything had just stopped for him. His watch stopped ticking. His heart stopped beating and he stopped breathing. The next thing he knew the doctor's face was hovering over him, mumbling something, looking at him with…what was that? Concern? Dean looked at Bobby and found the older hunter shouting something at him but he couldn't make out the words. He couldn't hear anything. Not a word.

"Dean!"

Then suddenly time moved again and the voices he couldn't hear then boomed in his ears like thunders. Dean cringed.

"What?" Dean rasped, shooting Bobby a deadly glare for assaulting his ears. He looked around and was astonished to find himself seated on the same plastic chair. He stupidly asked "How did I get here?"

"Idjit!" Bobby sighed with relief.

"What happened?" Dean's rubbed one side of his head. There was a steady pounding there, mild but it was there.

"You fainted." If Dean didn't know better, he thought there was amusement lacing Bobby's response. But Bobby was not even smiling. His face was dead serious.

Dean frowned at Bobby's remark and looked up. The doctor was still squeezing his shoulder and was looking down at him worriedly – hesitating whether he should take a closer look at the young man sitting in front of him. "You okay son?" he asked.

Grabbing a handful of Bobby's shirt Dean hoisted himself up – staggering a bit before finally regaining his balance. "Yeah," he bluntly answered while his eyes were fixed on the treatment room's door. "I want to see Sam." Dean pushed his way through Bobby and the doctor and went straight to the room.

Dean inhaled deeply, preparing himself for whatever he might find inside the room, and opened the door.

**...ooOoo...**

_- 1983, Kansas -_

He'd been standing outside the room, pacing up and down the hallway with curiosity for almost ten minutes before finally getting the courage to go into the room. Hesitating and being half nervous he reached up for the doorknob and twisted it with all his might. The knob didn't even turn. Usually it was mom or dad who opened the door for him because the knob was too high for him to reach but he couldn't ask them to do that now.

Dean was not allowed into the room in the first place.

Mom said the room was supposed to be a guest room but so far nobody ever came and slept in it until today. Dad had brought back the 'giant' who passed out at Eric's place. Mom was pretty mad at dad at first but then she agreed as soon as she met the giant. After all mom could never resist Dean's puppy eyes. She had warned him not to go into the room because the giant needed a rest but Dean couldn't help himself.

Dean always thought dad was the tallest and strongest man he ever met. However today when he saw the giant Dean was awed at how tall he was. Even dad had to stretch his neck to look him in the eye. Dean had to get into the room and give the giant a closer look. He had to make sure he is a good giant and not a bad one.

Dad said to him before he was the man of the house and he had to look after mom and Sammy when dad was not around. He had to protect them.

So Dean tried reaching for the knob again. This time he turned the knob with both hands and voila! He did it. He opened the door and peeked into the room cautiously. The giant was still lying on the bed – long hands and legs sprawled across the bed sloppily. _Wow! This giant sure is big_.

Dean bit his lip and stepped into the room. He tiptoed towards the bed, hoping so hard his footsteps wouldn't awake the sleeping giant. His heart was drumming in his chest Dean could hear the beating sound.

Suddenly the giant turned to his side towards Dean's direction. He stopped tiptoeing, smothered his mouth with his skinny hands and stopped breathing. When he was sure the giant was still asleep only Dean started breathing again. He let out a relieved breath and walked closer to the bed until he finally stood face to face with the shaggy haired giant.

Dean swallowed nervously as he studied the giant. His mouth hung open as he awed the giant's lanky figure. However other than being extremely tall he didn't in any way resembled the Incredible Hulk Dean saw on TV. The giant's hair was messy but its skin was not bright green. The clothes seemed to fit and he was not wearing the tight torn pants like the Hulk did.

'_The Hulk haved milk eyes!_' The idea popped out and Dean was proud of himself for figuring that out. Then the craziest plan crossed his mind and Dean found himself staring at the giant's face. Heaving a deep breath he reached for the giant's closed eyes and pried the lids open in intention to inspect the eye color.

Dean grunted disappointedly when the eye was not milk eyes like he had anticipated. The giant was not the hulk.

"Urghh…" Suddenly the giant grumbled noisily and tossed his head side to side.

Dean froze and instinctively held his breath. Scrunching his eyes and grinding his teeth so hard Dean waited with bated breath for the giant to rouse and growl at him.

The giant didn't stop moving but he wasn't awake either. He kicked the blanket mom had put on him and turned restlessly on the bed like he was having a nightmare. Then the giant whimpered and curled into himself – hugging his knees close to his chest.

"Deann…" the giant whined sadly.

Dean gasped. The giant knew his name!

"I'm sorry…"

Dean watched as the giant sobbed in his sleep. Somehow he didn't look frightening anymore. He looked…sad.

A giant was not supposed to be sad. A giant was supposed to be strong and fierce. Dean's mouth was hung open as he studied the giant's curling figure. The position he was in reminded Dean of his baby brother. Oh! Oh! Maybe the giant missed his mom. Maybe this giant was just a baby.

'A baby giant'. Dean looked at the giant wide eyed. His heart felt for him.

Out of reflex, Dean patted the giant's shoulder and made a hushing sound.

"Shhh…everythin' gonna be okay." He whispered soothingly to the giant's ears.

"Dean…I had the weirdest dream…" the giant mumbled under his breath, still out to the world.

"Go back to sleep now…" Dean mimicked mom. Mom knew best on how to hush him or baby Sammy back to sleep. Dean guessed mom's words would work on a baby giant too.

Dean was still patting the baby giant's shoulder but he wouldn't stop moving in his sleep. He had stopped talking but wouldn't stop whining. What could he do? What would mom do?

Dean used to cry in his sleep when he first slept in his own room. Then mom would always come to his bed and sang him a song to make him go back to sleep. Maybe he should do that.

After taking in a deep breath Dean started. "Hey Jude…don' make it bad…take a sad song and make it bad-der…wemember to- letter to your 'art…" He scrunched his eyes shut, trying to remember the rest of the song. "Then you can…hmmm…to make it bad—der." Anytime he couldn't get the words out he filled the song by humming the tune.

"Na na na na na na…" that was his favorite part of the song. Something he could remember very well. Dean smiled proudly as he realized the baby giant was finally sleeping soundly again but he didn't stop singing.

"Na na na na…" Dean went on.

**...ooOoo...**

The sight Dean was seeing made his heart ache. Sam was lying on the bed, stiff like a log. His little brother seemed to be having a restful sleep – a deep eternal sleep. Dean shook the thought away and walked towards Sam.

The queasy feeling in his stomach was increasing tenfold and his heart was racing, pounding hard against his chest. Breathing was becoming harsher as Dean neared the bed and as Sam's face came into closer view.

When he was finally standing by Sam's bedside Dean felt he could have stopped breathing. He cleared his throat and swallowed dryly. His eyes ran up and down Sam's body – checking for hidden injuries, anything that would explain Sam's condition but found none.

Dean stretched out his leg and hooked the leg of a chair closest to him and sat down by Sam's bedside. He continued staring Sam's face. The peacefulness marking Sam's features tore away a part of him making his stomach churn painfully. His little brother finally found peace in his sleep only when that sleep might last forever and he might not wake up from it.

Dean rubbed his face with a weary hand to chase away the tears that were fast blurring his vision. Bending over he grabbed Sam's hand into his own and rubbed his brother's palm and fingers – careful not to mess with the IV line.

"Hey Sammy." Dean started. Once again he gave Sam an all over and sighed heavily knowing he was giving himself a false hope that Sam would awake by his calling.

"The doc said…" Dean choked on his breath. He cleared his throat and carried on "The doc said they couldn't find out what's wrong with you and you would probably remain like this until God knows when."

Dean snorted. "But they don't know the things we know, right?" A thin curl appeared on his lips before it vanished at an instant.

"Hey! Look this on the bright side…you're sleeping again. You're finally getting that beauty sleep princess." Dean tried bringing merriness into his voice only to fail miserably. "Lord knows how cranky you'd been without your much needed beauty sleep." Dean intended to scoff at Sam but ended sobbing instead. He stared Sam's face half hoping that his brother would wake up to his mockery and retort with his own mocking or at least shooting out the word 'jerk' to his face.

Nothing. Sam remained still.

Dean squeezed Sam's hand, firm but gentle. "But Sammy…please, after you're done with the beauty sleep…please wake up." He buried his face onto Sam's arm and sniffled before glancing at his brother again.

"Everything's going to be okay," Dean promised. "We're going to be okay. Nothing bad is going to happen to you while I'm around. I'll make sure of that." Dean chortled – amused at what he had just said – and retorted mockingly "I know…I'm not good at making promises…look at you." Looking at Sam Dean's smile faded away.

"You rest now…but only for a while." He advised. "When I think you've had enough…I'll find a way to bring you back even when you don't want to. I promise you Sammy." Dean nodded vaguely. "I'll find a way to make it better."

Dean started humming 'Hey Jude' – the song mom used to sing to him during bedtimes.

"After all… that's what a big brother for." Dean smiled. "That's what I'm here for."

"To make it better."

The humming continued.

**TBC**

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**a/n**: Thank you so much for the reviews on the previous chapter. I promise I'll catch up with them ASAP. Take care!


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